


Delivery Boy

by buying_the_space_farm



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Minor pining, Smartass Family, loki just ferries peter to his dad a bunch of times okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23929747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buying_the_space_farm/pseuds/buying_the_space_farm
Summary: Loki knows that Spider-Man is on the younger side, but he didn't know he wasthatyoung.aka 3 times Loki took Peter to Tony bc he was in trouble, and 1 time Peter took Loki to Tony bc he was in trouble.
Relationships: Loki & Peter Parker, Loki/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 24
Kudos: 385





	Delivery Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QuietCanadian9](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuietCanadian9/gifts).



> For Quiet! I know this is longer than what you asked for but the muse spoke and they wouldn't shut up :D

Loki wasn’t one to usually lurk after business hours on the roof of an unsuspecting business, but needs must. And the musted needs demanded that he watch over Central Park so that no one messed with his prank before it was ready. 

Was musted even a word?

It didn’t matter. 

Loki shook his head and went back to surveying Central Park. Making sure no hapless heroes or malicious villains ruined his prank was truly the worst but it had to be done. Whether he wanted to do it or not. 

That was when something hit him. And it wasn’t a bird.

He glanced to the side and saw that it had been a spider, of a sort.

He hadn’t fallen from his standing position, so he crouched down and stared at the boy. “Are you alright, Spiderling?” He asked.

“Wow, you didn’t fall over when I hit you!” He exclaimed. “How is that possible? Are you just really heavy? But then wouldn’t it be harder for you to move under Earth’s gravity?”

Loki cocked his head and stared at him. “Spider? Are you alright?”

“Do you somehow have a lower center of gravity?” He continued and Loki saw the incessant speaking for what it was— nerves.

Loki finally nodded in response to the questions and answered. “Yes, I’m heavier than you would expect but I am also diverting the majority of my mass into a pocket dimension so that I don’t break things when I move.”

“Huh,” Spider-Man said. “Interesting.”

Loki shrugged. “If you say so.”

Spider-Man nodded. “The Aesir are fascinating, really, there isn’t enough known about them. Is Thor heavier than you? Is it because he is bigger? Why is he so much bigger?”

Loki’s brows rose with every question the spiderling launched at him. “Thor is not heavier than me, despite being bigger. I’m a giant.” He shook his head. “He’s not really that much bigger than I am, he just has more perfunctory muscle. Think the useless muscle of a bodybuilder vs the functional muscle of a stronger than average construction worker.”

Spider-Man cocked his own head and said, “Huh,” again. “You don’t look like a giant though.”

Loki sighed. “You talk a lot.”

“Yeeeaah, I get that a lot,” Spider-Man said. “But I think it’s one of my more charming personality traits.”

“Like father, like son, I suppose,” Loki mused and stood.

“F-father?” Spider-Man said. “How the hell do you know who my father is?” There was a note of panic in his voice.

“Your father is Stark, am I not correct?” Loki asked, stepping closer to the boy, because that was what he was— a young boy dressing up and taking on the responsibilities that adults around him had not.

Spider-Man started laughing and couldn’t seem to stop, the peals of laughter making him fall back out of the semi-seated position he had been in. “N-no, my father is— ha— not Tony Stark.”

Loki shrugged. He picked up the boy and slung him over his shoulder before he could do anything, the heavy weight of him barely registering except for him to note that he was heavier than a human of his size should be. “That’s who I’m taking you to anyway.”

“That works,” he said, still giggling.

Loki opened a portal to the penthouse of Stark’s tower and set the boy on a close-by chair. He glanced around before summoning another portal, this time to the mortal’s workshop and poked his head through. 

Alarms all across the tower started blaring and he saw Tony start to swear as he threw down his tools. His head whipped around, possibly looking for the parts of his suit when he saw Loki— well, his head. 

“What the hell are _you_ doing here?” He groaned. “If you’re here to enlist me in some prank again, it’s not gonna work. Carol banned me from missions and the workshop for a week and I was _so_ bored, I can’t do that again.”

“No, nothing like that,” Loki said. “I’m here to tell you I have your son and—”

“You have my son?” Tony asked. “When did I get a son?”

“The Spider boy?” Loki said.

“He isn’t my— wait you _have_ him, like somewhere nefarious? What are you doing with Spider-Man?” Tony demanded.

Loki rolled his eyes. These heroes were useless. “He’s just in the penthouse, calm down for fuck’s sake.”

“With _your_ phrasing,” Tony muttered, throwing down the rag that he had been using to clean his hands. “And _your_ reputation, it’s perfectly reasonable! To think these things!”

He was mostly talking to himself, so Loki paid him no mind. He pushed his shoulders through the portal and shrugged, making sure Tony saw. He rolled his eyes and crossed the workshop towards the portal, crossing through it next to Loki when he got there.

Loki ducked back through it to hear Tony loudly, but fondly, reprimanding the spider boy.

“— times have I told you to watch where you’re going? I don’t want to have to explain to your—” Tony glanced over his shoulder at Loki and went an alternate path in his sentence. “— guardian why the hell there is spider pancake on the Empire State Building.”

“Mr. Stark, I promise, I was watching where I was going—”

“Then how exactly did Loki happen upon you? A teen who should only be operating in Queens?”

“Well, that’s, uh, a funny story,” Spider-Man started, glancing around the room. At least, that was what Loki was assuming he was doing, what with all the shaking of his head he was doing. His face locked in his direction. “Mr. Loki can explain!”

Tony turned to face him. “Please. Explain.”

Loki shrugged, yet again. The Starks seemed to bring that out in him. “I was sitting on a building near Central Park, he swang into me, I brought him here. That’s it.”

“Ha!” Tony exclaimed, whirling on Spider-Man, who may have at that time been edging further away from Tony by way of scooting the chair closer and closer to a window. “Please! Explain! Why you weren’t! In Queens!”

“I had to do something for school!” Spider-Man yelped.

“It’s the middle of summer,” Tony hissed.

Loki could only hope that his glee was internal and not showing on his face. Truly, this was better than anything he had seen in a while, fame reality show or not.

“I— I— Fine!” Spider-Man burst out. “I was expanding my patrol because I was bored! There’s nothing happening in Queens tonight and I wanted to kick some butt!”

“You can’t even say ass, you shouldn’t be expanding your patrol!” Tony said, frustration and fondness still battling in his voice.

“Ass! Now let me expand my patrol,” Spider-Man said, crossing his arms.

“No, now go home and tell your aunt to ground you,” Tony said, fondness finally winning out. He sighed and turned back to Loki. “Thanks for bringing him here, I don’t want to know what kind of trouble he would have gotten into otherwise.”

“It’s fine,” Loki said, shaking his head. “I know what teenagers can be like, especially younger ones. They just think they know everything and should be the ones to rule the world.”

Tony cocked his head. “You’ve raised kids?”

Loki nodded, smiling sadly. “Five children, though I only got to raise three into teenhood.”

Tony’s expression pinched and he moved to take a step towards Loki but stopped. “I’m sorry.”

“Like I said, it’s fine.” Loki opened another portal. “I should be going now.” He paused and then nodded towards the still open window through which Spider-Man had taken his escape while they were talking. “Take care of him. And if I run across him again doing something I think he shouldn’t, I’ll bring him back here again, shall I?”

Tony nodded. “That would be great actually, me and— his guardian could use the break from chasing him around.”

“Parents try their best, it’s all they can do,” Loki said softly, then stepped through the portal to his apartment. He didn’t quite feel like following through on his prank anymore.

* * *

The next time he saw the spider boy was when he was getting a sandwich from a bodega in Manhattan. He had swung by at high speed, crowing out in delight as Loki’s hair fluttered behind him from the wind that he left in his wake.

“Well then,” he muttered and followed the trail of web strings that were always left behind Spider-Man. They usually dissolved within a few hours but there were a few hangers-on throughout the city. Some people used them as tribute sites for Spider-Man and the people he saved. They were nice places to go when he was feeling down, and with the way they were sometimes cleared out when even the cruelest neighbor or sanitation worker wouldn’t normally touch them, Loki got the feeling Spider-Man felt the same way about them.

He followed the trail until they abruptly detoured into a dark alleyway, where Loki saw a young teen struggling to pull on a shirt and was practically bouncing around in a pair of boxers and socks in the November cold.

“Spiderling?” He called, and the boy froze. 

“Uh,” said the voice of Spider-Man. “Sorry, wrong guy.”

“I rather think not,” Loki said. “And I would think it better to change out of your suit in a more secluded area, and not one that you had swung to directly. Maybe a bit of wall climbing next time, hmm?”

Spider-Man finally got his shirt fully on and turned around to face him, face scarlet. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Loki flung a stray— and harmless— bolt of magic at him and watched as he threw himself at the wall, sticking half-way up it in a crouch.

“You were saying?” He asked flatly.

Spider-Man dropped off of the wall and folded his hands in front of him. “Please, Mr. Loki, don’t tell anyone you know who I am, please, I’m begging you.”

“I mean, I still don’t know who you are, but I’m disturbed you think I would tell the world a teenage superhero’s identity,” Loki said, raising an eyebrow. “I would never sink that low, I’m no Doctor Doom.”

Spider-Man cocked his head. “I guess— it is true you don’t know who I am. Can I keep it that way?”

Loki shrugged. “Like I said, I would never reveal a teenage superhero’s identity. Wouldn’t reveal anyone’s identity but no one has trusted me with that so it’s a moo point.”

Spider-Man’s eyebrows crinkled and he dropped his hands. “I— it’s not moo, it’s moot.”

“What does moot mean? It’s a moo point, it’s a cow’s opinion, it doesn’t matter,” Loki said, shaking his head. “That doesn’t matter either. Come along,” he said, extending his hand towards Spider-Man. “I’ll take you to Stark, he’ll get you on your way, this time from a safe location.”

Spider-Man grabbed his stuff and walked towards Loki, who placed his outstretched hand on his shoulder. With his free hand, he summoned a portal and guided Spider-Man through it. 

Once again, they were in the penthouse, but this time Tony was at the bar, making a drink.

“Shit!” He gasped, dropping his drink to the counter and spilling it when he saw the two of them. “Jesus Christ, set up a warning system if you’re gonna keep doing this, for God’s sake.”

Loki smirked. “More fun this way.”

Tony scowled and picked up his glass and began to mop up the mess on the counter. “If you say so. My heart could use a break though, just saying.”

“Then I shouldn’t tell you that I easily found Spider-Man by following his webs to an alley where he was changing?”

“Pe- Spider-Man, I thought I taught you better!” Tony said, making a face.

“Mr. Stark, no offence, but you didn’t teach me anything about that. You exposed your identity the first chance you got.” Spider-Man seemed to look at Loki for assurance that he was right and he nodded encouragingly.

“And that was supposed to teach you not to do that!” Tony said, his voice raising a degree. 

“It’s not like you aimed that lesson specifically at me,” Spider-Man said snidely. “You just— kind of did it. I remember watching it!”

“Spider-Man, just— go home. As a civilian.” Tony shook his head tiredly. “Be more careful, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I won’t Mr. Stark,” Spider-Man said softly, walking towards the elevator. He glanced back at them before entering and then the doors wooshed closed. 

Tony sighed and put his drink back down. “I wish he knew better but at the same time I know I shouldn’t expect too much of him and pressure him into being something he isn't.”

“An understandable wish,” Loki said, walking towards the bar. “But to do that you need to let him make mistakes.”

“But what if he gets hurt?” Tony asked, genuinely asked, with wide eyes, worry apparent in his face. “I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

“Tony,” Loki said, sitting down at the bar across from him. “If he is to grow, he needs to get hurt.” At Tony’s look of horror, he raised his hands in the universal sign of “Wait, there’s more, I’m getting to it.” “Not so much that he is permanently damaged, but enough for him to learn a lesson. Like letting a child burn themselves to learn to check for hot pans on a fire.”

“You’re supposed to let kids burn themselves?!” Tony yelped. 

“Not terribly,” Loki explained. “Just enough so that they learn their lesson, like you need to do with Spider-Man.”

“But isn’t the point of being some form of guardian or mentor is to protect the kid?”

“To protect them in the long run, to have them learn how to protect themselves, they have to hurt sometimes,” Loki said sadly.

Tony suddenly narrowed his eyes at him. “This isn’t some ploy to like, lead me into believing that spanking a child— something I would _never_ do to Spider-Man, that is _too_ weird to think about— is it?”

“Your culture strikes children?!” He was truly aghast.

“Some people hit their kids when they’ve misbehaved. Some do it because they’re fucked up.” Tony shrugged. “My dad believed in corporal punishment and nobody stopped him. I decided I was never gonna do that to a kid if I ever decided I wanted them. Haven’t yet.”

“I really dislike your culture sometimes,” Loki muttered, stealing the last of Tony’s drink from the bar and knocking it back. “Striking children for misbehaving, that’s unthinkable.”

Tony clapped his hands once. “Amen.” He paused and cocked his head thoughtfully. “Now, I think you need to get out of my house. Don’t want Carol on my ass and I wanted some peace and quiet tonight. Something which you are not conducive to.”

Loki raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, but the next time we meet in battle, don’t think I will forgive this slight easily.”

Tony snorted. “Battle. That’s a fancy word for ‘cleaning up pranks’.”

Loki shrugged. “Be that as it may, it’s what happens.” He got up then and gave a half-bow. “And now I shall take my leave of you. Good-bye, Tony.”

He saw a smirk start to grace Tony’s face just before he teleported away. Despite it being a smirk and not a real smile, it had been— fun to call it forth and enjoyable to look at. Loki didn’t analyze it any further than that. He didn’t need his life to get any more complicated than it already was.

* * *

The next notable time Loki returned Peter (yes, he knew his secret identity now. He had last one more ferrying to Tony before revealing his identity) to Tony was probably the seventh time.

It. Wasn’t a good time.

Peter had been fighting Sandman, trying to ferry him towards the bay to get him as small as possible to fight him better when Sandman caught one of the strands that he had sent out and sent him crashing through several buildings. It happened so quick that Loki almost didn’t have time to react.

He sent a spell racing after Peter to protect him from the worst of the damage and then attacked Sandman, sending water and ice after him from multiple directions, exploiting his clones in a way he hadn’t for a long time.

He took every advantage he could until he made his way to Peter and scooped him up into his arms, teleporting them away as soon as he did. 

Stark Tower’s penthouse materialized around him as it usually did and he carefully laid him on one of the long, low couches that littered the room. Once Peter was down, he lifted his mask gently, only to be greeted by cuts and bruises that had hidden themselves beneath the fabric. His face scrunched in sympathy.

He teleported once more, this time to Tony’s lab. 

They had grown closer as well, not just Peter and Loki. Loki privately thought that Tony may have even been quietly courting him by way of gifts and time spent together, time Tony spent concentrated wholly on him and it was wonderful.

But this wasn’t the time for thoughts about that.

“Tony,” he called, stepping past a work table. “Peter is hurt and—” 

“Peter’s hurt?” Tony asked, popping up from behind another workstation. “How bad?”

“Not more than usually, but he’s unconscious and I can’t tell how much pain he is in,” Loki replied, hands folded in front of him, twisting and picking with his nerves. 

“Who was he fighting?” Tony asked, standing up and wiping his hands on a towel.

“Sandman,” Loki said, trying not to be distracted by Tony’s bare arms. Tank tops were his best friend and worst enemy when it came to what Tony wore. 

Tony hummed. “Not the worst villain to be fighting, but not the best either.” He stepped around the table and started towards Loki. Loki summoned another portal, to the penthouse this time, and they walked through it, only to see Peter sitting up and rubbing his temple like it pained him. He glanced over at them when they walked in but it was like he couldn’t focus on them and his head kept dipping to one side.

“Hey, kid, you need anything?” Tony asked, moving to crouch in front of Peter.

“And ice-pack?” Peter said. “An ice-pack would be good.”

Tony patted the couch cushion next to Peter’s leg and stood. “You got it, buddy.”

He stood and walked over to the bar, gesturing for Loki to follow him.

Tony made it to the bar and he went through the motions of getting the ice-pack. “I’m worried about him,” he said under his breath, hands busy with a towel and a squishy blue pack, which Loki could only assume was an ice-pack. “He’s never been this beat up after a fight with Sandman before, and I have no idea how he could have done this much damage to him in the first place.”

Loki sighed and sat down across from him. “I was watching and he managed to grab a web as Peter was shooting it, then used it to swing him through several buildings.”

Tony inhaled sharply. “No,” he said, then gestured for Loki to wait as he walked over to Peter and gave him the towel-wrapped cold-pack. 

“When did Sandman become so powerful?” He asked when he got back. “And why didn’t Peter disengage the web when he was grabbed?”

Loki shrugged. “He _was_ several dozen stories up when it happened, and he might have thought that if Sandman managed to grab him once, he could do it again.”

Tony shook his head. “Jesus.”

“Indeed.”

“Mr. Stark? Loki?” Peter called piteously, overpowering their quiet conversation. “I think I need to get to the medbay for a splint.”

Tony rushed over to his side and Loki was overcome with a wave of fondness for this man and his devotion to a boy who was his son in all the ways that mattered. 

“Shit, Peter, are you okay?” Loki heard Tony ask as he summoned yet another portal.

“I don’t think so,” Peter said, and it sounded like there were tears in his voice now.

“Okay, we’re gonna take care of you,” Tony said, and Loki glanced over just in time to see him lifting Peter up into his arms and start carrying him over to the portal. 

“Is there anything I can do?” Loki asked, hands twisting around each other again.

“Can you cast a healing spell or something?” Tony asked.

Loki paused before answering. “I— would be afraid to, if you are asking seriously. I don’t know how it would react with his already sped up healing processes.”

Tony nodded. “I would be afraid, too.”

“I’m sorry, Tony.”

He shook his head. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. I know you would help him if you could.” He started towards the portal again before stopping for another moment. “You care about him, I know you want to make sure he isn’t hurt.”

Tony finished walking through the portal and that was the last time he saw Tony for a few weeks.

* * *

Loki teleported to the tower under the cover of darkness. It wasn’t something he normally did but he was injured and his normal hideouts had been… compromised. He didn’t know how, but they were, and he couldn’t go back there. Thankfully, he wasn’t greeted by any alarms as sometimes happened if he dropped off Peter late at night, but he was too distracted by pain and flickering stars across his vision.

He settled on the couch gingerly and clutched at his bleeding side. The attack hadn’t been an expected attack— but then, were they ever? 

Doctor Doom had apparently had enough of Loki interfering with his invasion plans on behalf of the Avengers and had managed to track him to his usual apartment. He had no idea if any of his other refuges had been made, but it wouldn’t do to walk into another attack, now would it?

So here he was. 

“Mr. Loki?” A voice said in the dark, and Loki almost drew a knife on it in his surprise.

Once it dawned on him who had spoken, he relaxed against the couch again and flicked the lights on with a thought.

“What are you still doing here, Peter?” He asked wearily, trying to make sure that he didn’t see any of the blood that was still leaking steadily out of his side. 

“I was working with Mr. Stark in the lab…” He said, voice steadily trailing off. He took a few more steps towards Loki so he could see him head-on. “Are you okay?”

“Ah, that’s a—” Loki hissed as a bolt of pain lanced through his side as he readjusted his body. “Good question.”

“Loki, I think you need to go to the medbay.” Peter’s eyebrows were scrunched together and he tapping his foot incessantly.

“Nonsense, I’ll be fine in a few hours,” he said, trying to wave off the idea. It only made the pain worse and his sight was whited out for a moment.

By the time he could see again, Peter was at his side, pulling his arm over his shoulders and levering him up to standing. “We’re going to the medbay.”

Loki didn’t have it in him to argue.

Peter stopped when they got to the elevator and pulled out his phone, tapping out a quick message to someone before dragging Loki into the elevator that would take them just two floors down. He may not live here, but he did know where everything was, thank you very much. It always helped to know the home territory of one’s enemies. Even if they weren’t, per se, one’s enemies anymore. 

He panted through the pain and hoped that Peter didn’t really notice it.

By the looks he was casting him, he definitely did.

“In case you were wondering, this is why I rescued you all those times,” Loki said.

Peter looked confused. “What, so I would take you to medbay when you were hurt?”

“No, so that you didn’t have to be—” Loki hissed as the elevator jolted to a stop. “So you didn’t have to be alone. Being hurt and alone is,” he shook his head. “It’s not good for you.”

“Except that’s what you were doing, Loki,” Peter said and started walking towards one of the beds. He helped Loki sit down on one and then helped him slowly lean back so he was laying down. “You were just gonna sit there in the dark and not ask for help like any sane person would.”

“No one ever said I was sane, dear boy,” Loki said, chuckling weakly. 

Peter frowned down at him then looked up sharply when the elevator doors opened again.

Huh, Loki hadn’t noticed them close in the first place.

“I went into the lounge just now and there was blood all over my nice new couch,” Tony grumbled softly.

Loki glanced off to the side guiltily. “Which one, the red one?”

Tony paused and took in Loki’s appearance, blood streaked all across his armor, hand clutched to his side and pursed his lips. “Well, it's red now, yeah.”

“Sorry about that,” Loki said. 

Tony walked up to him and took his free hand in his own. “It’s okay, I’m just glad you came here when something happened.

Loki shrugged then winced when it pulled at his wound. “Didn’t really have anywhere else to go.”

Tony frowned and looked down to where Loki’s hand was pressing against his side, blood still oozing lazily from between his fingers. “And don’t I wish you would just stay here in the first place.”

“We’re enemies,” Loki protested weakly, staring up at the halo that the fluorescent lights were making of Tony’s hair.

Tony side-eyed him and started tugging at the fastenings of his armor. “We haven’t been enemies for a while now, Loki, you gotta just admit it and move in.”

Loki moved to help him. “Doesn’t mean I have to do it happily.”

Tony gave him a steady look, hands still busy, now with a pair of scissors, attacking his linen shirt. “You’d be safer if you did.”

“You wouldn’t though,” Loki said, glancing between Peter and Tony both. “Neither of you would be. I have too many other enemies who aren’t so forgiving.”

Tony patted his wrist. “And we’ll take care of them together, right Peter? I think Carol would appreciate beating up some more villain ass than usual. That woman is more spitfire than human, I swear to god.”

Loki huffed out a single laugh then almost shouted when Tony started dabbing at his wound with an alcohol-soaked pad. “Jesus Christ, man, are you a sadist?”

“No, just making sure you don’t get an infection,” Tony said, smiling charmingly. 

Loki narrowed his eyes at him. “I can’t get an infection.”

“I don’t know what your crazy alien science does, I just know this is a bad wound and you need some stitches.”

“You’re not giving me stitches!” Loki huffed. “Just— put some gauze on it and I’ll be fine in the morning.”

Tony flashed the scissors at him. “That means either sitting up or cutting off more of your clothes.”

Loki flapped a hand at him and he heard Peter snicker softly to the side of him. “I’ll sit up, just hold on.”

“Do you want some help, Loki?”

“No, I’m fine,” he grumbled, and sat up slowly, groaning as he moved until he was up and panting, sweat beading on his forehead.

Tony’s brow wrinkled and he looked at Peter. “Go wake Bruce up, will you?”

“Right away, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, then practically bolted off.

“Is it that bad?” Loki asked, voice small.

Tony shook his head. “I just don’t want him to have to see this and Bruce takes the longest to wake up.”

“You’re just delaying the inevitable,” Loki gasped.

“What, making sure the kid doesn’t see someone he cares about grossly hurt?” Tony asked. “I’ll delay that as long as possible, thanks.”

“Whatever you think is best,” Loki said. “And I don’t mean that patronizingly. He’s your ward.”

Tony stared at him for a moment then nodded. “Thank you.”

Loki winced as he moved to start taking off his coat and armor. “Help please?”

“Scissors help?” Tony asked, brandishing them again. “Or hands help?”

“Hands help.”

“Okay,” Tony said and started working the leather coat down his arms, which Loki hadn’t been able to manage on his own.

“You know,” Tony started timidly, something he didn’t normally do. “This isn’t exactly how I imagined taking your clothes off for the first time.”

Loki froze.

Tony had a hell of a sense of timing, that was for sure.

Before Tony could take his silence as rejection, he said, “neither did I, but needs must.”

Tony let out a sigh of relief and smiled at him.

It was a small smile, one full of hope, one that Loki wasn’t used to having aimed at him. He smiled back and lifted one hand to cradle the back of Tony’s skull in his palm. He pulled Tony forward and leaned towards him at the same time and their lips met in a soft kiss, definitely not what he had expected for their first kiss but—

It was good. 

At least, it was until he nearly pitched forward and almost knocked Tony over.

He pulled back, laughing softly, and combed his fingers through Loki’s hair. “Enough of that for now, let’s get you patched up.”

There was not saving the linen shirt that Tony had already cut, so he just cut it the rest of the way off. Despite being bloody, his pants weren’t hiding any wounds, so they stayed on.

The wound had already stopped bleeding on its own so after washing his hands, Tony took out more alcohol-soaked pads came out and cleaned his wounds, the alcohol stinging wildly as the blood was wiped away. Each time Loki winced, Tony apologized before moving on to the next area. It was a long process, but it blinked by so quickly that Loki was surprised when Tony started wrapping gauze around his abdomen. He had zoned out so thoroughly he hadn’t even noticed the time going by.

“Done already?” He asked.

“Yep,” Tony said, placing a small kiss on the tip of Loki’s nose. “You’re all set till morning. And just so you know, if you’re not healed in the morning, I am absolutely having Bruce give you stitches.”

Loki scowled but nodded, resigned to his possible fate. Superhuman healing abilities, please don’t fail.

“Ready to go to bed?” Tony asked, then his eyes widened almost comically. “That is— I mean, do you want to go to a guest room and, uh, go to bed?”

Loki smiled and nodded, not feeling up to speaking anymore.

Tony helped him off the bed and slung Loki’s arm over his shoulders, better able to support him that way. He tugged them towards the elevator and took them to an empty floor, one that didn’t have any residents but still had bedrooms in case they had visitors. When the elevator doors opened, he guided Loki towards one of the empty rooms and leaned him against the wall so he could key in the unlock code for the room.

“The code is 112— mmph—” Tony said, words all mushing together in his mouth when Loki leaned forward and pressed their mouths together again. 

“I know the code, darling,” Loki said against his lips. “I’ve stayed over before.”

Tony nodded and pressed back against him, pressing him into the wall as they started making out like impatient teenagers. The sound of the door’s lock re-engaging broke them apart and they were both breathing heavily, cheeks dark.

“Goodnight, Tony,” Loki finally said, darting forward to kiss him on the cheek, stubble making his lips tingle for a long while after it happened. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Tony smiled and nodded. “Goodnight, Loki.”

He finally stepped back and let Loki stumble the rest of the way to the door and type in the code. Loki glanced over his shoulder once before letting the door close, and it was to see the sight of a happy beyond measure Tony Stark behind him.

It was a sight he couldn’t wait to see more of.

**Author's Note:**

> post fic epilogue:  
> "Mr. Stark! Loki! I got Mr. Banner to wake up!" Peter said into the now empty medbay. "Shit."  
> "Peter, they're probably screwing by now, they probably just wanted you to leave them alone while they flirted," Bruce said tiredly, sleep making his voice scratchy.  
> "No! Loki was really hurt!"  
> "Whatever kid, I'm gonna have some tea and go back to bed. You should too."  
> Peter pouted and followed after him.
> 
> yes i made a _friends_ joke. Ive never even seen the episode its from but I thought it would be funny for loki, an alien with allspeak, to make that mistake.  
> also! the couch joke is from here: https://incorrecttonyxeveryonequotes.tumblr.com/post/614967300060332032/tony-i-went-into-the-lounge-the-other-day-and


End file.
